A Meeting Of East And West In Tampines.

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Dining area

View from dining area to the balcony

Kitchen

Cont. in next post

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Downstairs toilet

TV area

First Bedroom

cont. in next post.

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Second bedroom

cont. in next post.

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Second bedroom Ceiling. They have coated the entire EM (walls and ceiling and trunking in the rockwall finish). In the second bedroom it has come off the ceiling and there was some very bad patch work. Why did we still buy ?. There was no water leakage visiable, no stains and at worst we will need to get the town council to fix. We know the officer from dealing with her over spalling concrete in our current property .

cont. in next post.

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aster bedroom

Signs of aircon leakage in the master bedroom

cont. in next post.

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Common toilet

Master bedroom toilet

cont. in next post.

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I have been informed that the contractors do not strip the paint from the doors or door frames by both Home Success and by Image Design. I will be striping the paint myself as the items required to do so are available from HomeFix. It will cut down the price of replacing the bedroom doors and door frames. As you can see from the next picture, the owner has tried to paint another colour over the white gloss paint on the door without at least rubbing the door down with sand paper. The gloss paint does not allow the other paint to properly stick to it so you end up with this horror story of a door paint job. The same is for all bedroom and the door frames for the bedrooms.

Another issue is the rockwall on all the electrical trunking meaning that if we are re-plastering, which is our preferred option then we need to have all the electrical trunking replaced as well . The 'off bill costs are going up and up so I need to make note and budget extra here as well. I will make a list of all off reno quote costs and put them in here later.

RB

[sfk7 0]

Hi Rb, great write up there.

Would like to enquire, how do you strip off the paint on the doors? Is it possible for veneer doors? I'm asking this because my recently purchased condo has doors and frame in mahogany / rosewood colour when the look i'm after is more scandinavian, more beech / birch wood color.

Would appreciate if you can do a short write up. My id quoted 200 for each door just to change the colour and of course its out of budget.

[RimBlock 0]

Hi Rb, great write up there.

Would like to enquire, how do you strip off the paint on the doors? Is it possible for veneer doors? I'm asking this because my recently purchased condo has doors and frame in mahogany / rosewood colour when the look i'm after is more scandinavian, more beech / birch wood color.

Would appreciate if you can do a short write up. My id quoted 200 for each door just to change the colour and of course its out of budget.

Thanks Sfk7.

Veneer doors use use a thin strip of wood much like laminated kitchen units on the face of the door to give it the colour or design that is preferred. It is not uncommon for veneered doors to be hollow behind the veneer with just an edging frame and maybe a cross beam left to right at waist height. AFAIK, you would have to change the veneer to change the finish but as there is just a basic frame behind, it is likely to be only slightly less expensive than getting a new door and more troublesome. Veneer doors are usually flat with no 'carving' type design to them. These are usually the cheapest type of door although it would depend on the quality and thickness of the veneer.

Moulded or solid wooden doors (as per my badly painted door pic above) use lumps of wood to fashion the design of the door. They are usually pretty solid and can be painted. They can also have the paint striped and then be repainted rather than throwing them away and wasting them for the sake of a little effort.

There are two ways to strip a door / door frame and both can be a bit messy.

You can strip the door in place or remove it from the door way. It is easier if you move it as you can rotate it around as you are striping it and you can do all the doors in one place. The door frames you need to do in place (cannot take them off unless you have pretty good carpentry skills).

Heat gun;

You will need a heat gun sourced from somewhere like homefix. These are paint stripper guns and usually use an electric element and fan to produce hot air (like a big hairdryer) that melts the vinyl paint. They do not produce flames. You will need a metal scraper to pull the paint off the door when it is soft and protective clothing like an apron (or old clothes), gloves and shoes. Some sort of dust sheet (not plastic) will also help protect the floor.

Use the heat gun to heat the paint up usually until it starts to bubble and then use the metal scraper to pull the paint off the door in strips. Start from the top of the door and work down and you can move the heat gun and scraper so the gun heats the paint just before the scraper gets to it. You can always go back and reheat a stubborn part if the paint does not come off smoothly. Go slow and let the gun heat the paint until soft (only the first bit needs to start bubbling). If you get it right it will come off in strips which will become brittle once they cool down. Don't let the heat gun stay over the door where it is striped or unpainted for too long or the wood will blacken and char. It is almost as if you are using the heat gun as an iron for ironing the clothes with the paint as the cloth (but don't touch the two together ). The door frames are usually easier unless they are moulded with intricate shapes.

Acid Wash;

You can purchase paint removal liquid at homefix (and other like shops I would guess) which you use with a paint brush to paint the door with. This will eat away at the paint so you can just scrape the remaining residue off afterwards. Same protection required as before with the addition of glasses or goggles to avoid splashes in the eyes. It is just like applying a thin coat of paint although the products I have used in the past have been like wall paper paste in consistency or thick congee . Whilst this is acidic in nature, if you do get any on your skin, just calmly go and wash it off with water. It is not so strong that you are going to loose fingers . Follow the products instructions for use and you will usually need to wash the door / door frame down afterwards to make sure you remove any left over paint remover. The advantage of this technique is that is it easier (paint it on then leave for a bit and then scrape off), no hot blowgun, no scorch marks. If you get the paint remover on something other than where you want it and not on skin then you can try baking soda to try and neutralize it. Again, if it is on shin then flush with lots of water. As long as you are not being stupid with it then you should have no problems.

You may want a bit of retaliation for both methods but especially for the paint remover as the fumes can be quite irritating. Remember though that any fans around the heat gun method are likely to retard the heating process.

Now, there is another type of door colouring and that is staining. A fairly neutral colours wood will be used to make a door and then stained to emulate the desired colour. Changing the colour of these doors can be difficult depending on the depth of the stain. The only way to remove it is taking the top layer off the door by sanding or planing. Planing would be out for most people as you are essentially 'shaving' the top layer off with a plane (hand or industrial). If you are willing to put the effort in then sanding using coarse and then progressively finer sandpaper may allow you to get past the stain. Make no mistake, this is a big job for just one door let alone two or three with door frames. It will help build arm and shoulder muscles though . Personally, if it is stained then get a new door. You may be able to sell the stained ones to someone who is looking and likes the colour you have. Recycle and reuse where possible .

Get your protection on, try something new, stay safe, take pride in the results of your own work and most of all, have fun.

Right, time to finish my cup of tea and then off to collect my wifes birthday cake and then eat it with her

RB

[sfk7 0]

Nice write up! Not for the faint hearted though. haha

Anyway what you have suggested is for painted solid doors and not veneer doors am i correct? But appreciate it. I bet other forummers will benefit from it, those that plan to get their hands dirty.

[JCase 0]

Welcome and good stuff. Can't view any of the pics you posted though. Good luck with the reno.

[patsy_sg 1]

It IS a soap opera!! Keeps you waiting for the next installment!! Keep them coming!! and good luck with your reno!

We DIY alot around the house too... just finished doing up my dressing table chair (12 year old IKEA!!) and now planning to do up the wall behind our bed with fabric....

[hippobb 0]

Hi RB,

Welcome to RT, looking forward to more updates on ur reno... enjoy reading ur chapters too...

btw I'm into photography also... are all ur pics shot using ur FF 5D?

anyway... cheers and enjoy ur stay here!!

[marshmallow 0]

Yo~ interesting t-blog that you have. your write up on the paint removal was very useful! (i asked similar question on RT a few months back )

all the best for your reno journey~

[RimBlock 0]

Nice write up! Not for the faint hearted though. haha

Anyway what you have suggested is for painted solid doors and not veneer doors am i correct? But appreciate it. I bet other forummers will benefit from it, those that plan to get their hands dirty.

Yep, can only strip for solid or moulded doors.

Bit of info here on wood veneer which may explain better than I have the process.

RB